June 14, 2009

Peace. Quiet. Solitude.

at least for a couple of hours. my kids are gone. in miami beach with hanifa's mom and aunt. the will not return until the 21st. it's strange. no one is yelling "mom!". i don't hear video games turned up to the max and automatic firing nerf guns are gathering dust. it's so quiet here. how have I spent the last 30 hours? hmmm...as soon as I dropped the little buggers off at the airport I joined my friend mandy jo for a day of leisurely fun by her in-laws pool. it was heaven. i took a nap. drank some champagne. napped. that lasted from approximately 11am-11pm. (hanifa joined us after work.) then, we woke up this morning, mandy was texting...she may have injured herself in the pool last night. er, urgent care? decided to wait and see. went to brunch with the lebers...mandy decided the er. she's ok, just banged up and bruised. not a very good ending to an otherwise perfect day! we met her at the hospital...where on her discharge notes, the dr said "no swimming with dr jones". then we went to see hangover. funny, funny movie. especially the end. cracks me up just thinking about it. tonight? hanifa works...i...not sure.

so we are a couple of trips in already this summer. first it was italy...a whirlwind tour really. 1 week is just not enough with the traveling to and from. my kids were absolutely perfect. couldn't have asked for a better bunch of troopers. the little village we stayed in, corfino, was picturesque. watching grayson attempt to speak italian, pay for his sodas in euros and try to be as independent as he can was fun. here are a few photos... this is the entire gang with the skyline of florence in the background. we were traveling with the marcuzzo family who had already been there for a couple of weeks.

a really cool door in a little town called castiglione...this was a shot of all of the kiddos.

it wouldn't be italy without our nightly limoncellos!

so, we got home from italy late on the 3rd, kids were in a swim meet on the 4th and then we woke up bright and early and started the trek to puerto penasco, mexico. 10 adults. 15 kids under 11. what were we thinking? we weren't. but, it ended up being the perfect way to end the hectic traveling week. sitting by the beach, drinking mexican beers and hanging with good friends.

these boys were the reason we went. both have may birthdays and wanted to spend them in mexico. it's a love/hate relationship.

just wait until these little rascals are dating. we're all gonna be in trouble.

tres amigos.

just the adults. and duke.

next up? hanifa and i leave for iowa for brangie's wedding on tuesday. yep. we're going to iowa. did i mention hanifa is performing the ceremony?

How did the Peace March during the Vietnam War impact our country economically?
Who were important in the peace march? Why was it important that veterans spoke at the capital who actually came from the Vietnam War? How did it impact the country short term and long term? Where and when did the peace march take place?

What are the basic concepts of freedom vs enslavement to you?
Also do you think the following to be a true statement:
"Depending on the society a 'slave' subject to a master may have more freedom and better treatment than one that lives in a 'free' society subject to a repressive economic system"